Tuesday, 30 April 2013

I think every collection needs at least one glitter polish. It just adds something to the nails, even if just on the signature finger. Its gorgeous when it catches the sunlight, and glams up every outfit around the festive period. I'm like a magpie when it comes to glitter polishes. Its unfortunate that they are a pain to remove or I think I'd wear them a lot more often than I do now!

I have a picked a few of the W7 ones up over the last year - they are good enough quality and don't break the bank. I don't want to spend a lot on something that I don't wear that often (due to the frustration of removing them!).

L-R
LA Colors 'Jewel Tone' - This is so pretty, a concoction of purple, pink and teal glitter particles. Scrummy!
LA Colors 'Sparkling Diamonds' - A pure silver one that often gets used on the signature finger a lot.
Technic 'Carnival' -I remember when this was a really popular dupe for one of OPIs (possibly from the muppet collection, correct me if I'm wrong).
W7 'Green Dazzle' - Such a gorgeous vibrant green.
W7 'Gold Dazzle' - Great for around Christmas time

L-R
Miss Sporty (From their Sparkle Touch range)
Barry M 'Pink Sapphire Glitter' - These are more shreds of glitter than flecks, but nonetheless still pretty.
Barry M 'Amethyst Glitter'
Barry M Limited Edition Christmas 2012.
La Femme Beauty - Another cheap and cheerful electric blue. Quite opaque but would need to be used over a polish.
Nail Polish - Again - v.original - this was purchased as part of a set years ago from New Look, but this is surprisingly thick and loaded with glitter, so creates a really good effect.

My Fave by far has to be Barry M Amethyst Glitter - The colours in this are amazing. Gorgeous when it catches the light too. It does need several coats if you are to wear it alone but I can deal with that because of how pretty it is!

Sunday, 28 April 2013

Red should be in every girls nail collection in my eyes. Especially a nice paintbox red. I think its such a classic colour and looks gorgeous with a black number on a night out. Its also a very versitile colour so tends to go with a lot of outfits.

Now, this photo, I know you're probably thinking 'well that looks like a random concoction of reds Kate!' But hear me out - The bright yellow on the end... is the only yellow I own, as is the orange next to it, so I didn't feel like it deserved a post on its own, so I gathered the nearest colour to this is red.. so there you have it! Also, the colours at the other end, I can promise you they are all forms of red, even though they look a little.... funky.

L-R
Maybelline 'Canary Yellow'
No 7 'Tangy'
Barry M 'Bright Red'
Nails Inc 'St James'
Collection 2000 'Starlet' This is so pretty and has a gorgeous irredescent shimmer to it
Deborah Lippmann - Love this, especially round Christmas time. Although again, being a glitter, its a pain to remove
OPI 'You only live twice' - Very similar to the previous but with finer flecks of glitter.
Avon 'Cherry Jubilee' - I've had this for a long time now, although it doesn't look it, its quite similar to Barry Ms 'Raspberry'
ELF 'Burgundy' - This looks horrible in the photo, and its not much better in reality. It has a gold shimmer to it but is quite a disappointing product.

I think my red category is quite poor, I need to spice it up a little!

Friday, 26 April 2013

Purple is another colour that I love.. I really am not fussy when it comes to colours, as you can probably tell by now! It used to be my favourite colour for a long time. I remember having a lilac bedroom when I was younger. I actually have a purple 'themed' conservatory now in my house (which you can take a tour of here).

L-RBarry M 'Berry Icecream'Barry M Gelly 'Prickly Pear'Accessorize shade 26Barry M 'Bright Purple'Nina Ultra Pro Salon Forumla 'Punki Purple' - This is a relatively new purchase. It looks fairly pink on camera, but its more of a neon purple, if that even exists?!ELF 'Purple Dream' - I first discovered this on Fleur's Youtube channel a few years ago now, and although I don't like ELF polishes, this seems to go on pretty well as opposed to other ELF polishes I have tried, maybe because of the brightness of the colour. Barry M 'Indigo' - I wear this a lot in the autumn/winter. Such a pretty blue.2True shade 4 - I remember watching one of ***missbudgetbeauty*** videos way back regarding this brand, and not long after, I popped into Superdrug to see what they had to offer. Although these are fairly cheap, I absolutely love this on my nails. Its another one of those that I can't stop staring at if I have it on. A gorgeous glitter polish that removes like a dream, thank god!

So there you have it, all my purples! This was yet another colour category that I thought I had a lot more of than I actually do...

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Blue is one of those colours that I am instantly attracted to, especially electric blue. Last year when I went to Vegas to be a bridesmaid for my brothers wedding, I had a royal blue dress from Missguided which I got to keep. I love it, but still waiting for an event to wear it to again (for footage of my dress please see here).

However on the nails, blue isn't always easy to wear.. I'm one of those that has to my nails matching with my clothes..I either go for a versitile colour, like red or pink, or a colour that matches with a top that I have on, for example.

L-REssie 'Bikini so Teeny' - This is the most recent purchase to my collection - It is so pretty in the bottle and has very subtle flecks of glitter in, unfortunately you can't notice it on the nail. But I like it nonethelessBarry M Gelly 'Blueberry'Barry M 'Pure Turquoise'Barry M 'Cyan Blue'Miss Sporty 8 (from the 'Clubbing colours') - I first remember seeing this on Louise's (SprinkleofGlitter) blog and I fell in love then. I still swoon over it now every time I see it. Its one of those colours I could eat! (If you read my spring polish collection you'll know what I mean!)Barry M 'Cobalt Blue'Barry M 'Magnetic Blue'Collection 2000 I have no idea of the colour because he writing has worn off (its pretty old!). This bottle is very misleading and is actually a very pretty navy colour with a subtle silver undertone. I do tend to keep this for Autumn/winter though because of how dark it is.Nail Polish - Ha, how orginal! This was in a cheap kit that I got from New Look years ago, and surprisingly this is a very good quality polish. Its very similar to the Collection 2000 one in colour, although in the photo they look black. I promise they're not!

My favourite by far has to be Miss Sporty '8'. Whilst Im on that note, don't you think its so dismal how polishes are just named by numbers?! I love a good polish name.. I think some of them are so cute and quirky and helps me to remember them when referring to friends, as opposed to 'errrr... it's number...errrm?!'. A close second I'm torn between is the Barry M Gelly or Essie. Hmmmm.. so similar.

Monday, 22 April 2013

I'm a girly girl, which means one thing. I like pink. Noooo, that doesn't mean I'm a barbie wannabe with neon pink lipstick, pink stilettos tottering down the street with my hot pink handbag slung over my arm with the latest dog poking its head out, that too in a pink diamonte coat. Far from it. I just like the odd fleck of pink to brighten up my outfit, and that fleck of pink is usually found on my nails.

I feel like I'm always buying pink polishes, so I was quite surprised of the amount I had when I put them altogether. I thought I would have had more than what I actually have, so that was a pleasant surprise (means I can go and buy more without feeling guilty!)

L-RAvon 'Ballerina' - Not really overly keen on Avon polishes. They are very sheer and need a few coats, which I'm not patient enough to do!No 7 'Twinkle' - This is so pretty to look at, it has little flecks of irredescent glitter in, however this is a bugger to get off so I only occasionally wear it.W7 'Sheer pink' - Cheap and cheerful. Haven't worn this for a long time so can't remember the quality!Leighton Denny 'Babydoll' - Love this stuff, love the wide brush and the consistency.Barry M 'Strawberry Icecream'Barry M Gelly 'Dragon fruit?' Someone tell me the correct name of this. I was filming a video a while back and stated 'Dragon' on camera, because thats what it says on the bottle, and there is no sign that anything else has rubbed off - I then got corrected and told it was something else.. so someone fill in the missing blank for me!

L-RBarry M Nails effects 314. I have barely used this stuff. I'm not keen on nail effects anymore so this may need another home.OPI 'If you moust you moust' - Purchased this in Vegas. Love the stuff. Very chip resistant and a very wearable colour. Its one of those were I am always looking at my nails throughout the day and thinking 'god, thats a pretty colour!'Barry M 'Pink Flamingo' - Haven't worn this in a while but a lovely coral colour that was a sell out when it first came out a couple of years ago.Missguided 'Misstify' - I think this was a freebie from a magazine. A good all round polish nontheless. Barry M 'Fuchsia' - Think this was one of the first Barry M polishes I ever bought. A nice medium pink colour that has had a lot of wear!Barry M Gelly 'Pomegranate' - This reminds me a little of Barry M's 'Raspberry' which I've actually misplaced. Love it.

So thats my pink category of polishes! You might recognise a few from my spring favourite polishes. After looking at this though, I have decided I no longer need any more baby pinks for a while! I think I'm missing a neon pink.. what do you think?!

Saturday, 20 April 2013

As we all know (well, I hope we all know!), I'm a bit of a sucker when it comes to nail polish. I'll hold my hand up now and say I haven't got a crazy amount compared to some I've seen, but then I feel like I have above the 'average' amount. I don't know what it is, but I'm instantly attracted to nail polish and the bright colours. Some colours I swoon over and feel like I could eat them they are that pretty (you know how you get that sometimes with a certain scent, well I'm the same, but with colours as well.. weirdo I hear you say. Yep, ok. I'm a weirdo).

I've wanted to do this for so long now, but just never got round to it, but this afternoon, I spent an hour 'categorising' my polishes into colours and photographing them. This actually helped me realise which colours I definitely don't need any more of (I'm looking at you, baby pinks!), and also colours that I was lacking and could do with more of (Oh yes, always room for more).

I'm going to divide this 'nail chapter' over 11 posts, each featuring a different colour category, cos that er, kinda made sense.

Today I am going to showcare my favourite Spring polishes. I have been in the garden today for the first time this year, doing boring housey garden stuff, and because the sun has been shining brightly all day, I thought now is a perfect time.

Apologies for the lighting. Even thought it was a bright day, some of these still don't look their true colours.

As you will notice, I've got quite a few different shades of pinks going on there. Lets face it, what is spring/summer without pink?! Its one of those colours that seems to go with almost every outfit, so I like how wearable it is. As you can see, I'm also a sucker for BarryM. Cheap yet cheerful, and honestly pretty good quality.

From L-R

Barry M - Pink Flamingo (I remember when this was all the craze a couple of years ago, it was forever sold out in the shops!).

Barry M Pure Turquoise & Strawberry Icecream.

Barry M Gelly Hi Shines in Greenberry, Blueberry, Dragonfruit? (I only have 'dragon' at the bottom of the bottle and I was informed it was wrong!), and Prickly Pear.

Leighton Denny 'Babydoll', No 7 'Tangy' - This is the only orange I own, and I've only ever worn it on my nails once, it tends to go on my toenails instead, however I am adament I'm going to wear this more this year!

OPI 'If you moust, you moust'.

I love the Gelly paints, I do have another colour that didn't make it in this collection, simply because I felt like it was quite an autumnal colour. See if you can spy it in the next few posts!

Friday, 19 April 2013

Yesterday I received Birchbox, today I received Glossybox. When they arrive so close together it kinda highlights how greedy I am, then makes me feel guilty and my brain is telling me that I really should cancel one and save some money but dya know what? I've got used to my 2 little presents each month... cos lets face it, no one else buys me anything! (And yes, that goes for you Mike!) Er, Mikes' my boyfriend. I don't mention him too much on here, so just in case you were wondering ;-) Whilst I'm on that note, I'm half way through persuading him to film a Boyfriend Tag with me for the Tube. He still thinks Youtube is strange - not the site itself, but the fact that I sit there filming myself. I'd love to vlog our many adventures, but because he can't get his head around the whole thing, he acts a bit goofy on camera. By goofy I mean he feels silly, so nothing comes out natural. Also he secretly laughs at me when Im in public filming, which embarasses me and makes me not want to film anymore. So if you've ever watched any of my vlogs, you'll notice that I'm barely ever in them and all you can see is the 'scenery'. Meh. I reckon I'd make a good vlogger if someone was in it with me, instead of laughing by my side. Boys eh?

Wow, that was a tangent and half.

Glossybox - wow, what a month! Impressed is a little bit of an understatement. Which I'm glad, cos I was kinda disappointed with yesterdays Birchbox, so was hoping this was gonna be a good 'un, and it didn't disappoint. Not only is the variety amazing, but so too were the brands and the product sizes.

Seeing the likes of Essie, Illamasqua and Crabtree and Evelyn excited me muchly!

Contents

Crabtree & Evelyn Somerset Meadow Hand Therapy. I've not long used the Blue Orchid up in this range (correct me if I've got the name wrong!). Absolutely loved that, had a whiff of this and its just as good. I've really gotten into my handcreams these past 6+ months so the odd handcream here and there really does excite me. Don't overload me with them though, cos the novelty kinda wears off then...

Nip & Fab Dry Skin Fix Body Butter in 'Pistachio Sundae'. I think I have a couple of Nip & Fab products in my collection which I'm yet to use. I do have quite a few body butters building up too, but this scent excites me, if nothing else. It smells delish! I was thinking about taking this to Florida with me, but then thought well, if its body butter, I do tend to use it pretty much everywhere, so I can't see it lasting me 2 weeks. So, with that being said, I think I might give this a bash next, so keep your eyes peeled for a review!

Yves Rocher France 'So Elixir Purple' - 2 things with this. 1) The bottle.. oooo, the bottle! So ca-ute! Horay for something that isn't one of those tiny tiny sample perfumes that you get 2 squirts from and its gone. 2) The smell is actually quite nice. I can't say its something I'd rush out and get, but compared to the majority of perfume samples I receive, I feel this is more suited for my age bracket, shall we say!

Essie nail polish in 'Bikini so Teeny' - First ever Essie polish, whoop! Yeah ok, I'm late jumping on the band wagon, but when you get used to paying BarryM prices, £7.99 for a polish feels like your paying the earth. So of course I was ever so thankful for receivng this! Its a pretty baby blue with very very subtle flecks of glitter in. Although I do fear I have something very similar to this colour in my collection, so I will have to go check! Either way, I now own an Essie polish, let me hear a whoop whoop!

Illamasqua 'Medium Pencil' - Bit of a bizarre name for a product, but there ya go. When I saw this, it excited me. When I read the packaging and couldn't distinguish what was inside, it excited me. When I opened it and saw the colour, it.... no, it didn't excite me. Its in the colour 'Feisty', which, if you don't know, is a bright red with some pink undertones. A bright paintbox red to use on the 'eyes, lips, face and body' - what, a bright red sharp kohl pencil? Err, I don't think so. The only place I would wear this is on my lips, and even then, I don't feel its the right consistency to blend, if anything it could be used as a lip liner I suppose.. but 1) I barely ever use lip liners 2) It's rare that I wear a bright red lip and 3) The fact that it states it can be used on the body or eyes kinda... scares me? So unfortunately I think this will be going in my 'To Sell' eBay box.

I almost forgot to comment on the oh so pretty box - So far I've been quite lucky with the different box colours - the different varieties have all matched different rooms in my house (even though they aren't on show and are stuck in the cupboard in that particular room for storage instead) I am a bit OCD like that. But that, the prettiest out of them all, and it doesn't have a room that it belongs in! *sob* I actually think this is good enough to keep out 'on show' too - maybe used as some sort of storage stand? I'm not personally one for clutter but.. how could you not?!

Despite the last product, I'm still gonna give this months' box top marks, cos I was still 100% happy with the other products.

What did you think to this months box? Were you as impressed as me?! I've read a few that received Lipcote as opposed to Essie nail polish.. all I will say is owch. GB recently sent an email out stating about their 'star product' (being the essie polish), insinuating that we will all be receiving this. For then some 'subscribers' to have not received that is pretty harsh. Even harsher when you put a poor product in replace. Come on GB!

Thursday, 18 April 2013

It feels like forever since I last received a beauty box, so this month was much awaited... and I've still got Glossy to come, Yay! I've been really shrewd with my spending this month (being a car-owner isn't always good!) so I feel like I'm in need of some much-awaited luxury!

This months' Birchbox was based on the seasons transition (although some may still argue it feels like winter!). We have seen a few bright sunny days but Jeez Louise, I don't know about where you are, but the wind here has been crazy, so strong to the point where you think your house roof is gonna blow off.. not good for the hair or skirt lovers!

I can't make my mind up what I think to this months box. I'm not overwhelmed with any of the products, none of them excited me... I feel like theres too much focus on skincare this month, with 4 out of 6 products being skin orientated (ok, this may be debateable, I'm sure some people still use soap on their face!).

I know we all have our different ways of opening our box - I'm one of these that like surprises, therefore I don't read any of the phamplets that I receive, but instead I'm straight into that pink bag like a magpie is to all things shiny. When I stumbled on the red box, I got all excited, and for some reason thought it was a snazzy make-up item, so was pretty disappointed when I opened it and was faced with a cube of soap.

The mirror too was quite disheartening - I have compact mirrors coming out of my ears so I really didn't need any more! And its not as if I can use these up and 'get through them' like I would be able to do with products.. so maybe I need to start looking into passing a few on!

My most favourite product (so far) is the Glossy Kiss lipstick - I trialled that earlier an was rather impressed, the colour is really buildable so you could either go for a faint tinted lip or a full on bold lip...although my boyfriend didn't like the colour on me, but I think it is pretty wearable (who listens to boys when it comes to make-up anyway?!).

I am however looking forward to trying the foaming facial wash.. I like creamy products!

Friday, 12 April 2013

By now I'm sure the majority of you would have tried a dry shampoo at some point in the last couple of years. They are genius for many different reasons - lazy days when your hair needs washing but you... just can't be bothered? Or you haven't got time? It seems to eat up any grease that lies at our roots, and also gives us a little volume, which is fab if you're like me and have flat hair. I also know of people that use it purely for the latter, even if their hair is clean.

After a while, dry shampoos came out with another invention - dry shampoo with a tint of colour - you buy the colour to match your hair and viola.

If any of you watch my youtube channel you will know that I dye my hair. I am naturally a redhead (a copperery colour to be exact), but dye my hair dark brown, so as you can imagine, when my roots come through, they're pretty noticeable.

I started using the batiste tinted dry shampoo for black hair around 1yr ago - I used to pick it up from B&M for a steal at £1.49, however they stopped doing it, and I never got round to finding a replacement, until recently.

I'm all about saving money (especially now Florida is fast approaching!) so when I came across a Superdrug own brand, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

As a dry shampoo, this is pretty disappointing - the consistency of this shampoo compared to all others is very.... wet. I don't feel like it lifts any grease or adds any volume. It just looks like Ive wet my roots. I have noticed due to the 'wet' consistency, it does occasionally 'splash' on the forehead (if you get close to the hair, like me), which isn't always ideal if its landing on top of make-up. Luckily I manage to save my make-up by gently blotting the damage off as soon as is appeared. However! (and its a big however!) - the tinted side of things is amazing! It masks my roots so good that I was due a colour to my hair probably about 3-4 weeks ago now, and I'm still going strong, simply because of this dry shampoo! Obviously its pretty impossible to do all roots with this - I obviously only work on the roots that are showing (i.e. my parting), but if its pro-longing the time that I add more chemicals and bleach to my hair, then its a winner all round! I absolutely hate dying my hair (I do home dyes) - its such a chore to me, but I also hate going out with roots, so this is the perfect 'lazy' alternative, until I can be bothered to hit the bottle! (and no.. not that bottle!).

This is pretty much a root touch up in a spray can - hmm, am I onto a new invention here?!

Monday, 1 April 2013

I think this is the first year I havent received an easter egg *sadface*. Its a sign! Although all i feel ive done these last few days is eat chocolate so it might be for the best!

In replace of eggs, I decided to have a go at some spring nails.. (I would call them easter nails but seeing as though they have no yellow/lemon in them, I didnt feel that was right!).

This was my first go at gradient/ombre nails and although the actual 'process' was easy, the aftermath was extremely messy and time consuming, trying to tidy my nails up. I think i got more polish on my actual skin surrounding the nail! Safe to say i think i need a little more practise.

However after i tidied up my nails i was fairly happy with the result (for a beginner!). Some nails turned out better than others... I think im going to have fun playing around with a few more colours in the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled!